GARY REGER
T H E D E LI A N
XVMA
aus: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 74 (1988) 29–30
© Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn
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THE DELIAN XVMA
During period of Delian independence (314-167 B.C.) the Delians often
entrusted the oversight of construction or repair of sacred edifices to
boards called §pimelhta¤, and two cases of epimeletai of public works are
also known.1 One public board, the §pimelhta‹ toË x≈mato!, first appears
in 217 B.C. Their activities are attested in a number of inscriptions
down to 171,2 but the exact nature of their charge has escaped us due to
uncertainty about the meaning of the word x«ma.3
Philippe Bruneau has recently argued that x«ma here means "landfill"
("remblai"). He points out that seawater occasionally seeps into the ground
west of the street, and similar seepage has often been observed at the Agora
of Theophrastos, which is known to have been built on a landfill.4 Rue 5,
a major street which stands on slighly higher ground behind (to the east) of
a series of commercial buildings designated a, b, and g, would make more topographic sense if it had originally run directly along the waterfront.5 Bruneau thinks that Rue 5 ran farther south than it does today, serving as a
"paralia" for the Delian port.6 The Rue du Théâtre also drew his suspicion;
it seemed odd to him that such a major street should terminate well before
the waterfront, as it does today, dead-ending in Rue 5.
I will add to Bruneau's arguments that the current arrangement of roads
does not conduce to the easy delivery of building materials to the Theater.
The accounts speak frequently of shipments of marble and poros for the
Theater; it would be surprising indeed if the Delians had not assured a
direct route from the sea such as the Rue du Théâtre would provide were it
1
Vial 247-250, 256-257. I use the following non-standard abbreviations:
Bruneau = Philippe Bruneau, "Deliaca (IV). 36. Premier propos sur la front
de mer: la façade maritime du Quartier du thêâtre," BCH 105 (1981) 107-113;
note that the texts of pp.112 and 113 have been accidentally transposed;
Choix = Felix Durrbach, Choix d'inscriptions de Délos avec traduction et
commentaire (Paris 1921-22 [rep. 1977]);
GD = Philippe Bruneau and Jean Ducat, Guide de Délos3,(Paris 1983);
Vial = Claude Vial, Délos indépendante (314-167 avant J.-C.). Etude d'une
communauté civique et de ses institutions = BCH suppl. 10 (Paris 1984).
2 I.D. 355.12 (217 B.C.); 399A45-47 (192 B.C.); 442A79, 82, 89, 115, 118
(179 B.C.); 460t17, 19 (171 B.C.). Reviewed at Choix, p.89.
3 LSJ9s.v.
4 Bruneau 109. For the Agora of Theophrastos ( = GD 49, p.161) see I.D.
1645.2 = Choix 95.2 of 126/5 B.C. x«ma here clearly means a landfill: tå
x≈mata peribalÒnta t«i lim°ni (sc. YeÒfra!ton).
5 See most conveniently Plan VI in GD, facing p.247. Rue 5 is the street
tending north that begins (or ends) at the building marked 121.1 on the Plan.
For a more detailed map (with the street names marked) see Joseph Chamonard,
Le quartier du théatre, Etude sur l'habitation délienne l'êpoque hellénistique = EAD viii (Paris 1922) Pl.V-VI.
6 Bruneau III; cf. point C on Fig.3, p.108.
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G.Reger
extended west through building a.7
These considerations lead Bruneau to regard the §pimelhta‹ toË x≈mato! as
charged with filling in the waterfront along Rue 5 to produce the land that
buildings a-g would later stand on.8 Bruneau properly recognizes the difficulties with the word x«ma, which earlier scholars had rendered as "mole"
or "quay," without committing themselves;9 but Bruneau remarks, "Personnellement (et au risque de paraïtre prêcher pour mon saint), je doute que x«ma
ait désigne spécialement un môle ou un quai: puisque l'administration ne sent
pas le besoin de préciser, c'est qu'elle entend la totalité du terrassement
par lequel on gagne sur la mer et je traduirai simplement par `remblai´."10
In fact, it is possible to distinguish x«ma as a "remblai" ("landfill")
from x«ma as a "mole" or "pier" in Delian usage: the Delian administrators
themselves have done it. In every instance where x«ma occurs in connection with
the epimeletai, it appears in the singular.11 In the inscription honoring
Theophrastos for having built up the land on which the Agora that bears his
name stands, where there can be no doubt whatever the object in question
is a landfill, a "remblai," the word appears in the plural: tå x≈mata peribalÒnta t«i lim°ni (sc. YeÒfra!ton; I.D. 1645.2). When the hieropoioi want to
indicate the "dock" they use the word in the singular. I.G. xi 2.159A28 of
281 B.C. records payment "to the men who conveyed the stones from the dock to
(destination missing)": to›! épÚ toË x≈mato! toÁ! l¤you! pro!kom¤!asin prÚ!
--. The same use appears in I.G. xi 2.199A33: Yrã!vni ka‹ KtÆ!vni to›! épen°gko!in épÚ toË x≈mato! tå! dokoÁ! tå! parå MikÊyou.12
It follows clearly that the x«ma over which the epimeletai had supervision,
which appears always in the singular, was a dock, not a landfill. The fact that
their duties were expanded at least once to include the harbor strengthens
the case.13 Philippe Bruneau may well be right that the waterfront west of
Rue 5 is a landfill, but the commission in charge of it was not the §pimelhta‹
toË x≈mato!.
Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
7
Gary Reger
On stone deliveries to the theater, see Gustave Glotz, "Un transport de
marbre pour le thêatre de Délos," REG 32 (1919) 240-250.
8 Bruneau 110-111. I.D. 355.12 (217 B.C.) and 460t17, 19 (171 B.C.). For
expenses associated with the x«ma, I.D. 399A45-47, 6206 dr. and 66-67, 2000
dr. (192 B.C.); I.D. 442A79, 82, 89, 115, 118, amounts of 500 dr., 160 dr.
1 + 1/4 + 2/12 ob., 500 dr., 107 dr. 1 + 1/4 + 1/12 ob., and 500 dr. (179 B.C.).
Reviewed at Choix p.89.
9 Choix 89 and R.Vallois, Le Portique de Philippe = EAD vii (Paris 1923)
114. LSJ9 gives mole and pier (def. 4). The best study of the port of Delos
remains J.Paris, "Contributions à l'étude des ports antiques du monde grec,
II. Les êtablissements maritimes de Délos," BCH 40 (1916) 5-73.
10 Bruneau 110. Vial 340-341 apparently follows him; at least, he offers no
alternative interpretation.
11 I.D. 355.12; 399A45, 67; 442A79, 82, 89, 115, 118; and 460t17,19, in
the expression [efi! tÚ x]«ma ka‹ lim°na at 1.19.
12 On the shipping of stone for construction of the theater, see Gustave
Glotz, "Un transport de marbre pour le théâtre de Délos," REG 32 (1919) 240250.
13 I.D. 460t 19.